


Welcome Back Friend

by Gears112, phantomthief_fee



Series: Drew World [5]
Category: Bendy and the Ink Machine
Genre: Alternate Universe - Amusement Park, Gen, Henry is Good Dad, Joey's an ass, Joshua's confused, The Lawrence Family Trait rears it's Head Again
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-04
Updated: 2018-02-12
Packaged: 2019-03-13 14:05:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 6,891
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13572120
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gears112/pseuds/Gears112, https://archiveofourown.org/users/phantomthief_fee/pseuds/phantomthief_fee
Summary: 'Inspired'  by Joey's letter, Henry makes his way to the amusement park to find Joshua.





	1. Chapter 1

...

Henry nodded as the greeter welcomed him to the park, taking in the amusement park’s aesthetic before spotting Nancy and Cordelia walking around with Alice Angel. Henry did a double take as he saw the living breathing toon, cheerfully meeting the children who were in awe of the angel.

“Whoa…” he managed out.

“Oh hey, Henry!” Henry turned to see Chris coming over to him, holding balloons and some Bendy related handouts. “Kinda surprised to see ya here…” Henry forced a chuckle.

“Joey sent me a ticket and I wanted to see everyone…”

“Oh cool….oh and if you see Wally, please let him know that Shawn’s yelling for him…” Henry nodded before Chris headed over to a group of kids and giving them the bowties and balloons. Henry watched before shaking his head; he needed to go find Joey and find Joshua. He followed the signs towards Joey’s office, where a group of people were crowded around the sign up sheet.

“I can’t wait to see Mr. Drew!” Henry overheard some of the people say.

“Yeah, I wanna ask him about where Bendy is! You’d figure he’d be here already, I mean Alice Angel's here and I've seen Boris a bunch...” Henry sighed before seeing a Bendy sign, seemingly pointing to an employee entrance gate that was open just slightly. Henry raised an eyebrow as he came closer to the sign before another sign seemed to pop out behind the gate, surprising Henry before it disappeared behind the gate.

“Huh...if I didn’t know any better, that’s where I’m supposed to go…” Henry chuckled before sneaking and slipping through the open gate.

.

* * *

 

.

“Hmmph…” Joey muttered as he returned to his ‘human’ appearance. “It seems Henry has returned after all…” He smiled as he fondled the security cap before setting it on a nearby table. “Now he’ll be able to see the true wonders of creation….” He turned to his ‘guest’, still tied up in the ink. “Stay put, will you?” Joey laughed and made his way out of the building. Once gone, Joshua let out a tired sigh.

“Maybe I should’ve gone for that Fazbear job…at least I would’ve gotten pizza…” There was some giggling from the ink and Joshua sigh. “And now I’m hearing things...great…”

“You’re a silly human…” The voice from the ink said. “Much nicer than the False One…”

“Uh...Thank you?” More giggles from the ink and Joshua wondered if he was hallucinating from the ink, that was thing that could happen, right?

“The False One won’t be back for a while, and the Creator is being led to here...Perhaps a story can pass the time?” Joshua was quiet before shaking his head; it’s not like he could do anything else.

“Um, sure…why not?”

.

* * *

 

.

Henry followed the seemingly sentient cutouts down the pathway to the security office, luckily avoiding anyone that would’ve recognized him as not an employee. He found the door to a nearby room and tried the door. After a few minutes, he managed to force the door open and entered.

“Joshua?” Henry said softly, waiting to hear who else was in the office. “Joshua!” He called out louder. There was silence and Henry sighed. “Come on…” He ventured in further before a blunt force knocked him upside the head, knocking him out cold. He crumpled to the ground with a thunk and after a few moments someone spoke.

“I-Is that Henry?” Cordelia asked softly, peering behind the wielder of the blunt object.

“Kinda overkill, don’tcha think bro?” Sammy went neon red

“S-Shut up!”


	2. Chapter 2

They dragged Henry back to the makeshift infirmary and set him up on one of the cots, waiting until he woke up. Cordelia wanted to stay with him, but she and Nancy had to get back to work. Sammy promised he’d stay with Henry until the other man woke up. So, eventually, Nancy managed to pry Cordelia away from Henry’s bedside.

“Do you think he’ll be angry with Sammy when he wakes up?” Cordelia asked as she and Nancy headed for Alice’s bandstand.

“I’m sure it’ll be fine,” Nancy said. “It’s not the first time Sammy’s accidentally hit someone in the head with a blunt object.” Cordelia couldn’t help but laugh slightly.

“Still, I’m worried.” She admitted.

“You should worry less.” Nancy patted Cordelia’s back. “You don’t have to worry about everyone’s opinion of you.”

“I wish it were that easy.” Cordelia sighed, her smile beginning to fade. Nancy decided it was better not to push the younger girl on the subject. They arrived at the bandstand just as Alice did.

“Hello Miss Nancy, Miss Cordelia,” Alice said, waving to them.

“Hello, Alice.” Cordelia forced herself to smile again.

“Where did you both go?” Alice asked. “I got a little worried.”

“Sammy saw someone go into the security office,” Nancy explained. “Turns out it was just Henry.”

“Henry?” Alice’s eyes went wide. “ _Henry_ came back?”

“Yeah. Sammy knocked him out with a board.” Nancy nodded.

“Oh my!” Alice’s hands went to her mouth.

“He’s okay!” Cordelia said quickly. “He might be a little concussed, but he’s alright.”

“Do you think I could see him later?” Alice asked, a hopeful note entering her voice. Nancy and Cordelia exchanged a glance.

“Uh, we’ll have to ask Joey about that,” Nancy said, smiling disarmingly. “But I’m sure it’ll be okay with him.” Alice’s face lit up and she began to jump up and down slightly.

“You’re on in five.” One of the stagehands said, tapping Alice gently on the shoulder. Alice nodded to him and he walked away.

“Knock ‘em dead.” Nancy winked and patted Alice’s shoulder.

“I always do.” Alice flipped her hair. Cordelia and Nancy stood to the side as Alice got onstage and began singing to a crowd of adoring tourists. The two women could see a few children in the audience dressed as Alice Angel, practically vibrating in their seats. Halfway through her song, though, someone interrupted Alice. When the woman ran past Cordelia and Nancy, they assumed she was another one of the greeters, due to her attire. Then they saw her half-ruined face, the horns sticking out of her hair, and the halo lodged in her head.

“I’M ALICE ANGEL!” The woman screamed, all but pushing Alice away from the microphone. There was something chillingly familiar about the woman’s voice. Almost immediately, a man neither Nancy nor Cordelia recognized ran up and dragged the woman off the stage. She was taken away, kicking and screaming, by the mysterious man.

“Let me go!” She shrieked, trying to take a swing at the man. “I need to sing! I need to entertain! I’m Alice! I’m ALICE! LET ME GO!”

“Yes, I know.” The man hummed. Cordelia and Nancy quickly rushed on stage. Nancy helped Alice offstage, patting her back and trying to assure the sobbing toon that it was alright. Cordelia stared out at the crowd of tourists, some of whom were crying. She put on a sunny smile and began to speak.

“Sorry, everybody, but it looks like one of our employees tried to play a practical joke on Alice. She is too shaken up to continue the act, so please exit to the right. A staff member will provide you with a free Alice Angel plushie as compensation. Thank you, and may your dreams come true!” She bowed and hurried off the stage as well. She and Nancy helped Alice back to the rest area, where Boris could take care of her, then returned to the break room.

“What was that?” Nancy said. She was more shaken up than Cordelia had ever seen her. Cordelia began to fidget, pulling at the hem of her dress and shuffling her feet.

“I...I don’t know.” She whispered. “But she sounded like...”

“She sounded like Campbell.” Nancy finished. They both looked at each other, eyes wide and terrified.

 

Meanwhile, Henry had woken up. Sammy looked up from the book he’d been reading.

“Morning.” He smiled apologetically. “Uh, sorry about hitting you over the head. I thought you were an intruder.”

“It’s alright.” Henry sat up and winced, rubbing his head. “Technically, I _was_ intruding.”

“What were you doing down there, anyway?” Sammy asked. “Were you looking for the Foster kid?”

“Yes.” Henry didn’t know if he wanted to tell Sammy about the letter.

“Did something happen to him?” Sammy put down his book. “Dee did say he didn’t show up to breakfast with her yesterday.”

“This happened.” Henry dug out the letter and handed it to Sammy. Sammy scanned the letter, and Henry could tell exactly when he reached the photo. Slowly, Sammy looked up.

“Joey kidnapped the kid.” He said.

“That’s what it looks like.” Henry nodded grimly. Sammy handed the letter back to him and exhaled slowly.

“What do you want to do about this?” He asked.

“I want to find my son,” Henry said, tucking the letter back into his pocket. “I’m going to leave here with him, whether Joey likes it or not.”


	3. Chapter 3

....

The park had closed early, for a chance for employees to enjoy the park, along with the toons, and Alice was adamant that both Nancy and Cordelia stayed with her during the event. Thankfully Sammy convinced the two that it would be ok; he and Henry would find him a spare employee uniform so he could walk around without too much notice and catch up to them. Sammy was a bit guilty about lying to his sister over the phone, especially since he could tell something was upsetting both girls as they spoke over the employee phone.

“We’ll be there in a bit, ok?” Sammy promised. “Enjoy the park, ok?”

“Alright...be careful big brother…” Sammy smiled.

“You too Nancy…” He hung up the phone and looked at Henry.

“We’ve probably got 15 minutes before my sister and Dee try and find us….” Henry nodded firmly.

“Then all of us are leaving.” Sammy didn’t respond and followed Henry into the security office.

“Wake up, wake up,” They paused as they heard a soft child-like voice. “The Creator and Prophet are here for you, Human, wake up!”

“Nugh…?” Henry’s eyes widened as he heard Joshua’s voice and the two hurried and saw Joshua still in the ink, slowly waking up. “W-Wha…?”

“Joshua!” Henry exclaimed. “Oh Go-How-” He shook his head. “Don’t worry, me and Sammy are going to get you out.” Joshua nodded absently, still out of it, as Henry pulled at the ink to get a grip on Joshua. Sammy helped as well and after several minutes they managed to pull Joshua out and slung him over his shoulders. “Stay with us Joshy...you’re going to be ok…”

“Cordelia will kill all of us if Nancy doesn’t first if you die on us.” Sammy snarked, earning an eyeroll from Henry as they slowly made it to the door. “Come on, we’ll get you to the-”

“Well, well, well…” The three stopped as standing in the doorway, leaning casually against it was Joey Drew, his grin wicked and wide. “The gang’s all _**fInaLLy hE**_ ** _Re_** ….”

.

* * *

 

.

“It’s as big as my head!” Alice exclaimed as she held the cotton candy, earning chuckles from the women, both in regular clothes now that the park was closed.

“Yeah,” Nancy said, taking a small fluff from the candy and popping it into her mouth. Alice frowned slightly, both Nancy and Cordelia seemed distracted and sad by something, and according to Mr. Drew, that wasn’t tolerated here; the amusement park was supposed to bring joy! Alice pondered on what she could do to make them happy before one of the Creators spotted them and had to have a ‘talk’ with them, leaving her all alone. “What do you want to do now Alice?” Alice pondered as she tapped her chin.

“Uhmm….Maybe we can go see what Boris is up too? Or Mr. Wally, I mean I haven’t seen him in a long while…” 

“He’s probably busy...I think he’s the only jan-” Alice turned and saw Nancy’s back tattoo. She gasped in awe.

“Oh wowie! What is that Ms. Nancy?!” Nancy blushed slightly.

“It’s my tattoo...Dave did it for me.” Alice got on her tiptoes and gently traced the outline of the portrait of the angel seemingly reaching for the sky. Her eyes were wide with awe and even Cordelia was impressed with how realistic the angel looked.

“It’s so pretty…” Alice whispered.

“It kinda looks like Alice…” Cordelia noted and Alice stepped back, gasping.

“You’re right!” Nancy’s face was neon red.

“You were kinda the inspiration…” She admitted sheepishly and Alice ‘blushed’ as well before hugging Nancy. Cordelia couldn’t help but smile as well as Chris jogged over.

“Hey, hey~” He said. “Any of you guys seen Wally? Shawn’s getting really antsy and I thinkin’ that the two have a hot date or something and I haven’t seen him all day either…” Nancy shook her head.

“No, not at all…” Cordelia said before frowning. “That isn’t like Wally not to being noticed at all…”

“And we haven’t seen Drew all day…” Nancy said. “And I haven’t got a reply from Joshy all day when I called his phone…” Nancy frowned and stood. “I think we’re going to have a talk with Drew, especially after that...lady busted into your show Alice…” Alice shuddered at the memory as Cordelia looked at Nancy, wondering why she didn’t add that the woman sounded like Susie.

“Maybe it might be easier to talk to Mr. Cohen.” Chris offered. “I mean he is the money guy…” Nancy nodded.

“True…” Alice frowned and placed her hands on her hips.

“If he’s hiding in his office again…” She grumbled before looking up at everyone. “Let’s go to his office! He needs some fun in his life and I’m not going to let him hole himself up in his stuffy old office! Follow me!” The group looked at each other before following the toon angel towards Grant’s office.


	4. Chapter 4

Grant wasn’t having an amazing week. First of all, after the first day, Joey had simply vanished and no one had been able to get ahold of him. Second of all, Wally had gone missing as well and Shawn was raising a bit fuss about it. And then there was that woman who had shown up at Alice’s performance. Murray Hill had assured him that it was nothing to be worried about, but Grant remained concerned. The last time Joey had disappeared like this, the toons had been created. Suddenly, the door to his office flew open and Alice entered, flanked by Nancy and Cordelia. 

“Hello, Mr Cohen!” Alice said brightly. 

“Hello Alice, Miss Bell, Miss Lawrence.” Grant nodded. “What brings you to my office?”

“Well, first off, we wanted to know if you’ve seen Joshua or Joey,” Nancy said. 

“Unfortunately, I haven’t seen either of them.” Grant looked back at the receipts in front of him. He couldn’t help but frown slightly. The Foster boy being missing was a troubling new development. He’d heard through the grapevine that Henry had returned, and the fact that it coincided with Joshua’s disappearance couldn’t be a coincidence. Cordelia and Nancy exchanged a worried glance. 

“Aw, okay. Well, do you want to enjoy the park with us?” Alice quickly bounced back. 

“I can’t. I have work to do.” Grant didn’t even look up. 

“Don’t be like that, Grant.” Alice pouted, walking around to tug on his arm.

“Someone needs to keep this place afloat,” Grant said, refusing to budge. 

“Come ooooon!” Alice tugged harder at his arm. “You need to take a break! You’ll work yourself to death if you don’t take breaks!”

“I do take breaks.” 

“Graaaaaaant!”

“Come on, a few minutes won’t hurt.” Nancy leaned on his desk. 

“I once got sick for two days and when I came back Joey had bought an ink machine and put himself over a thousand dollars in debt,” Grant said flatly. 

“It was a weird few days.” Cordelia laughed nervously. 

“Graaaaaaannnnntttt!” Alice whined. “Come oooooooonnn! Play with us!”

Grant sighed heavily. “If I leave the office, will you stop whining?”

“Yes!” Alice nodded fervently. 

“Fine. I’ll go on a few rides with you.” Grant got up and let himself be dragged off by Alice. Cordelia started to follow them but stopped when she saw that Nancy was rifling around in the papers on Grant’s desk. 

“What are you doing?” Cordelia asked, rushing back over to Nancy.

“I thought I saw something,” Nancy muttered, searching through the papers. After a moment, she withdrew a sheet of paper. 

“I knew it.” Nancy’s expression grew grave. 

“You knew what?” Cordelia asked. Nancy held the paper up in front of Cordelia’s face, pointing to a familiar name under ‘Business Expenses’. 

“Airfare for Susan Campbell.” Cordelia read. “Susie...Susie’s here?”

“Nancy? Miss Dee?” Alice’s voice came from farther away. “Where’d you go?”

“We should get back to them,” Nancy said, taking Cordelia’s hand and dragging her to where Alice and Grant were. Alice looked slightly worried. Grant had an unreadable expression on his face, but Cordelia could have sworn he looked worried as well. 

“What happened?” Alice asked. “Where did you go?” 

“Nothing happened, don’t worry about it.” Nancy gave her a big smile. “Dee just needed to tie her shoe.” 

“Yeah, it came untied.” Cordelia nodded, smiling as well. She had forgotten for a moment that they were wearing lace-up boots. 

“Alright...” Alice didn’t completely believe them, but she decided to put it aside. They went and rode the bumper cars for a bit before Cordelia got a little nauseous and had to stop. Nancy and Grant got off to help her, leaving Alice to play on the bumper cars with Boris. 

“You found Susie’s name in the documents, didn’t you?” Grant whispered to them once they were off the bumper cars. Both Cordelia and Nancy paled. 

“How did you know?” Nancy asked. 

“Miss Bell double-knots her laces. I have never seen them come undone.” Grant said. “But in addition to that, I did leave the business expense sheet out.”

“Did you want us to see it?” Cordelia asked quietly. 

Grant nodded, watching Alice and Boris play. “I have a feeling Joey is doing something he shouldn’t.”

“He’s the reason Wally went missing, isn’t he?” Nancy said.

“Without a doubt,” Grant replied. 

“We have to find him.” Nancy’s grip on the railing tightened and she gritted his teeth. She didn’t like Susie much, but even Susie didn’t deserve whatever Joey had done to her. Even Cordelia looked grim. 

“We need the plans for the park.” She said after a few minutes. “Knowing Joey, he probably has a secret room somewhere for his experiments.”

“He does.” Grant pulled out a map of the park. “He wouldn’t tell me what the expenses were for, but I’m not an idiot.” Nancy and Cordelia crowded around to get a good look at the map. Grant had drawn out a series of tunnels that the girls assumed were under the park. One location was prominently marked. It was under Joey’s office and it had been circled multiple times.

“So there’s a room under his office,” Nancy said. 

“We have to check it out.” Cordelia looked up, determination plain on her face. “I’m not going to let him hurt Joshy.” 

“Look at you, being all determined.” Nancy slapped the younger woman’s back. Cordelia flushed, brushing some hair out of her face. 

“What are you all whispering about?” Alice asked, walking up to them. Boris followed her, his usual goofy grin gracing his face. Nancy and Cordelia exchanged a glance, but Grant spoke first. 

“We think Joey’s been doing some bad things.” He said. “We think he’s the reason Joshua and Wally are missing.” Boris seemed to react to the names, frowning slightly. He opened his mouth, then closed it, beginning to fidget. 

“Boris? Are you okay?” Alice turned around and put a hand on his shoulder. Boris shrugged slightly, a worried look on his face. 

“Maybe you two should go get some rest,” Cordelia suggested. “Boris looks like he’s having a bit of a hard time.”

“Okay...” Alice hesitated, holding Boris’ hand. “Joey...Joey wouldn’t  _ really _ hurt anyone, would he? He’s not a bad person, is he?” Boris whimpered and tried to hide his face in Alice’s shoulder. The three humans didn’t say anything. They wanted to assure the angel that it would be alright, that Joey wasn’t a bad person. But Joey had a history of disregarding people’s emotions in order to get what he wanted. 

“It’s going to be okay,” Nancy said after a moment, giving Alice a big smile. “We’re going to figure this out, okay?”

“Okay.” Alice led Boris away, looking considerably more worried than she had before. 

“Are you two going to go confront him?” Grant asked once the toons were out of sight. Nancy and Cordelia nodded, staring intently at the circled location on the map. 

“We’re getting to the bottom of this.”


	5. Chapter 5

...

“Bo, I’m worried…” Alice admitted once the two went to the rest area for them. “Nancy and Cordelia have been seeming really upset since that lady crashed my show…And who’s Joshua? They mentioned him a few times…and I've never seen him before...” Boris was quiet, rubbing his arm as he sat down.

“I’m...not sure…” He finally said after a few minutes. “I think Joey’s mentioned a Joshua as a night guard fella…” Alice raised an eyebrow.

“Night guard? Why do we need one of those?” Boris shrugged absently. Alice crossed her arms before a lightbulb appeared over her head. “Maybe Mr. Hill knows!” Boris slightly flinched at the mention of the name, but Alice didn’t catch it. “I mean, he knows an awful lot about the park! And he really wants to help Joey and us!” She grabbed Boris’s hand. “Come on Bo! Let’s go! We’re gonna help Cordelia and Nancy!” Boris reluctantly allowed the angel to drag him out of the rest area.

.

* * *

 

.

“I can’t believe you know how to pick locks…” Cordelia admitted slowly as she stood near Chris as he worked on Joey’s door.

“I lose my house keys sometimes. It's no big deal.” Chris stated simply and Cordelia looked at Nancy, who was providing look out, wondering if she bought what Chris said. “Just give me another few min-”

“YOU TRAITOR!!” There was a high pitched scream as storming towards them was the woman that had stormed Alice’s performance. Nancy stood her ground, trying to block Chris and Cordelia.

“Look lady, I don’t know what your deal is…” Nancy started before the woman lunged at her. “HEY!”

“I AM ALICE ANGEL!” Chris and Cordelia tried to pry the woman off as the distorted woman swiped and clawed at Nancy. “THERE ARE NO OTHER ANGELS!! IT’S JUST ME!!! I’M ALICE! ANGEL!!”

“GET OFF!! P-Please!” Nancy cried out trying to desperately shove the woman off. A crowd began to form, fellow coworkers stunned and shocked, with a few trying to help rescue Nancy, though there were several punches and scratches for their efforts. A man quickly came over and picked up the warped woman by the waist and pulled her from Nancy, who collapsed onto the ground, holding herself and trembling. Cordelia held Nancy as the man, almost casually, took the woman, who was kicking and screaming about needing to get rid of the imperfect angel, towards the backstage of the amusement park. Cordelia paled, knowing that man had something to do with this incident but first she needed to take care of Nancy.

“Let’s get you to the Miracle Station…” Cordelia said and with Chris’s help, managed to get Nancy to stand up and slowly walked her to the first aid station. Nancy was trembling, quiet, and frankly it terrified Cordelia to see the normally confident and blunt woman so timid and frightened.

“Come on Nance, you’ve got this…” Chris said comfortingly. “Let’s get you patched up, and then we’ll get back to breaking in and entering, kay? Or find Sammy and let him go all Hulk mode…” Nancy rubbed at her eyes, trying to keep tears back. She held close to Cordelia, who tried humming to help calm both of them down. “Maybe you two can stay here and I’ll see if there’s another way to get in…” Nancy shook her head. “I’ll get Dave or Shawn or something, sheesh, I’m not that stupid.” Both women chuckled as Chris smiled. “We’re going to get to the bottom of this, and when we’re done, we’re demanding a pay raise.” He made a cheeky grin before leaving the station to find Dave or Shawn. Nancy sighed as she absently began to tend to her injuries. Cordelia looked at Nancy before helping.

“Nancy…” Cordelia said softly.

“Joey did that to her…Joey did….I-I don’t want to believe t-that….” Nancy’s breath hitched and Cordelia held Nancy close, allowing the other woman to break down into tears, overwhelmed by the events and feelings. After a few minutes, Nancy managed to collect herself. “S-Sorry about that D-Dee…” Cordelia smiled softly.

“Nancy, there’s no need to be sorry…” She said. “There’s so much going on...it’s not really good to hold back…” Nancy chuckled and rubbed the back of her head as she sat next to Cordelia.

“Y-Yeah, I suppose…but we got more important issues to worry about, we-”

“Nancy.” Cordelia said sternly. “Right now the most important thing is we get you patched up, and then we make a plan and then we find Joshy, Wally, and we go home.” Nancy looked at Dee and smiled before hugging the woman.

“You’re a really good friend, Dee…you really are.”

.

* * *

 

.

“Joey…” Henry said, keeping his calm, despite the fact he wanted to punch his friend for what he had done to Joshua. “Move out of the way. We need to get Joshua to a hospital.” Joey scoffed.

“Now wh **_y wOUlD yOu thINk tHAt?_ ** ” Joey purred. “ **_hE’s nEARlY pERFecT fOR wHAT i nEEd…_ ** ” Joey’s body seemed to start to drip and darken, warping and twisting into something else.

“Joey…” Henry tried to keep the fear out of his voice as he tried to think of a plan to get the three of them out ok as Joey looked ready to lunge at the three of them.

**_“Y̖̜͂̅̎ͬ͆̕o̲͔̺ͯ̌͟ͅU̵̞̼̗͈̞͑̀̒̓ͬ̀ ̡̙͚̗̭̭̒͊̾͆̅ͥả̵͍͉̜̫͗R̯̮̥͖͔͉ͦ͐̎͗͞Ę͔̥͇̫̓̃ ̔̆ͯ͂̇ͬ̄͂͟҉̼͈͈͇ň̺̞͓̥̯̒ͥ̎ͩ̽ͫ͛̚͢E̛̥͉̠̭̯̬̫̽ͣͥ̓͂̈͜V̴̬̞̞̬̳̦̯̳̰̅̒̿E̖̭̝̺͎̤̱̝ͭ̆̉̎ͨ̓̈́͠͡r̍ͥ̏̀͛͏͙͖̳̪͈͚ ̦͍̥̥͔͒͛͋̒̐ͩͧ͜ḽ̷̛̎ͧ̆̐ͦ̀̿ͧE̷̻̘͙̒̅A̴̖̻̳̮ͨ̾ͭ̊͆̿͜v͊̒͏̬İ͈̼̥̲̇ͥ́̓̽͝͡N͎͈̭͙͔͕͎̓̆̐̿̄ͮ͊͜͝g̉͋͒͏͔̥͚̼̭͎͠ ̺͙̻͖͙̓̎ͨ̈̆̂͟͝M̵̝̲͈̰̿̓̓ͦͮ͊Ḛ͔̲̝̖͓͈̱̿̊ͤͮ̓̅̄̚̕ ̵̢̱͙̲̲̹͔̼ͨͩ͒̔ͦ͘Ā̵͍̩͙̍̑̉ͮͦͤ͡G̩̤ͥĄ̸̛̯̟͚̹̩͓͐̽̾Ï̸̛͉͕̥̥̺̟̖͂ͪ͌͊͑̓̑N̖̬̯̦̩̭̂̾̋ͧ ̤̠̺̆̏̽͊̒̌̉̅ͯ͘H̫͚̗̼̠̹̔̍̇̆ͨ̂͗͘Ẽ̷̮̠̘̣͇͛ͤ̑ͥͧ̑͝͠N̒ͮ͘҉͙̖̱͖R̩̬̽̾ͯ̃̿Y̶̧͇̘͈͔̙͔͙̥̦͗ͤ̄ͣ̓̈!͙̲̯̞ͨ͌̔ͩ̄͌̚!̴̠͙̠̉͂̋ͤ̉͝!̻͐͂̎͛ͫ̋̊̚_ **


	6. Chapter 6

Murray Hill was popular with the toons, even if most of the main studio employees didn’t know who he was. Murray was perfectly happy to stay in the background. He’d never liked being the center of attention, especially since he wasn’t particularly impressive in his accomplishments or his appearance. Normally his job consisted of lurking in the shadows and taking care of anything that might tip off the general public and the employees to Joey’s activities. His job had gotten considerably harder since the opening of the theme park. He was getting a bit of a workout, having to chase Susie around the park like this. 

“Come on, Alice.” He said, gently pushing her back into the room Joey had set up for the former voice actress.

“No! Let me go, you bastard!” Susie shrieked, kicking and trying to bite him. “I have to end the false angels! I can be the only one!”

“Yes, I know.” He nodded. It took a few minutes, and more than a few punches from Susie, but he finally got her into the room and locked the door behind her. He then sighed and sunk to the ground, running a hand through his hair. He was starting to question what he was doing with Joey. 

“Mr Hill? Mr Hill, where are you?” He heard Alice’s voice above him. He got to his feet and quickly scampered up the ladder to his office, managing to close the secret door just as Alice and Boris entered the room. 

“Hey.” He put on a disarming smile. “What can I do for you today, Miss Alice?” Boris shrunk back a little upon seeing Murray. Murray bit back a sigh. He really did feel bad about what had happened to the poor guy. 

“We need help finding someone,” Alice said, screwing her face up in determination. 

“Well, I know practically everyone in the park, so I can probably help you there.” Murray nodded, leaning against his desk. He didn’t really need a desk, but Joey had insisted on it for the sake of appearance. 

“Cordelia and Nancy are looking for someone named Joshua.” Alice explained. “Apparently he’s a security guard? I don’t know why we’d need one, though.”

“All parks need security. We wouldn’t want anyone breaking in and vandalizing anything.” Murray laughed, trying to hide the fear he felt at hearing that name. No one was supposed to be looking for Joshua Foster. No one but Henry. And Henry had already shown up and taken the bait. Joey had sent word to him to delay anyone looking for Joshua, Henry, or Sammy.

“Do you know who he is?” Boris asked quietly. 

“I sure do,” Murray said. “He is indeed a security guard and he’s helping Joey with something very special right now.”

“Something special?” Both Alice and Boris’ eyes widened. Alice’s in excitement, Boris’ in terror. 

“What is it?” Alice asked, jumping up and down. “Are we going to get to see Bendy soon?”

“Bingo.” Murray tapped her nose with one finger. “Joey’s been working on it for weeks. But don’t tell him I told you. He’d be upset if I let the secret slip.”

“We won’t tell anyone!” Alice said. “Right, Boris? ...Boris?” She paused when she saw how badly Boris was shaking. Murray’s smile quickly faded. With how rushed the job on Boris had been he wasn’t surprised it was beginning to fall apart. Well, he could fix this. The ink comprising Boris’ body began to drip to the ground, his whole form going a bit wobbly. Pale skin could be see as the ink sloughed away. Pale freckled skin.

“Mr Hill, what’s going on?” Alice looked desperately back at Murray, who strode forward. He peeled off his leather gloves, revealing strange sigils carved into his palms. He put his hands on Boris’ shoulders, beginning to whisper in Latin. Boris began to glow, the light coming off him growing so strong that Alice had to cover her eyes. When it faded, Boris stood in front of Murray, looking around as though nothing had happened. 

“Bo! Are you okay?” Alice rushed to his side.

“Of course I am,” Boris said. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

“But you were- Your body-” 

“Alice, are you feeling okay?” Boris put a hand to her forehead. 

“You were having a little bit of a hard time. Alice is just worried about you.” Murray slipped effortlessly into the conversation, quickly covering up his hands. “Don’t worry, I fixed you up.” 

“Thanks, Mr Hill!” Boris smiled. “You’re the best!” Then he turned and walked out of the office. Alice stood there, dumbfounded. The second Boris was out of the office, Murray closed the door and collapsed against his desk. 

“I’m sure you have a lot of questions.” He said, rubbing his temples. “I’ll tell you whatever you want to know.”

“What...What did you do?” Alice asked. “What did you do to him?”

“I repaired Joey’s enchantment.” Murray waved his gloved hands. “I made him Boris again.”

“What enchantment?” Alice demanded. “What did Joey do to him? What does that Joshua man have to do with this? Where’s Wally?”

“You just saw Wally,” Murray said solemnly. 

“You don’t- Joey didn’t.” Alice could feel panic rising within her. Joey wouldn’t do something like that to an employee. He wouldn’t turn them into something they didn’t want to be. Joey was a good man. He was a good man. 

“He did.” Murray had always believed in being truthful. He didn’t enjoy being deceitful or malicious. He worked for Joey because there were no other job options for him. Joey would likely be angry with him for revealing this to Alice, but there was no way to explain this away, at least not for him. 

“He...Did Wally....” It took a few tries before Alice finally got her thoughts together. “Did he force Wally into it?”

“He did.”

Alice whimpered and curled into herself, tears beginning to spill down her cheeks. Murray didn’t cross to comfort her. He suspected she wanted very little to do with him right now. 

“Can you fix him?” Alice asked after a moment or two. “Can you make him Wally again?” 

“I can. But he needs to loosen the enchantment himself first.” In retrospect, he probably shouldn’t have fixed the rush job Joey had done, but he’d reacted on instinct. 

“Like he did before you did the....thing.” Alice made a hand gesture similar to the one Murray had done before. Murray nodded. Alice took a shaking breath, drawing herself up to her full height. 

“I want to know exactly what Joey’s been doing.” She said. “Every single thing.” Murray took a deep breath and began. 

 

Cordelia and Nancy were headed into Joey’s secret room. Well, first they were going to check Joey’s office. They snuck through the park and to Joey’s office, which Cordelia unlocked with the master key. Unsurprisingly, there was no one to be found in Joey’s office. It remained untouched. 

“So we just need to look for some kind of switch, right?” Nancy strode in, trying to project a confident air, one that didn’t betray how shaken up she truly was. Cordelia nodded, beginning to snoop around the room for anything out of place. Mostly, they just turned up touristy things and objects that were likely meant to stroke Joey’s own ego. 

“I think Joey might be a narcissist,” Cordelia said as she held up the millionth bobblehead she’d discovered in a filing cabinet. “Honestly, who needs this many bobbleheads of themselves?”

“Joey, apparently.” Nancy snorted. They’d always known Joey had an ego, but they’d evidently underestimated just how big it was. Finally, they moved to searching his desk. There were a lot of pictures of the studio crew laid out, and one that seemed a little out of place. It was a photo of Joey and Henry, both looking to be about college age. 

“This thing must be ancient,” Nancy muttered, picking it up. As she did, there was a click and a bookshelf slid aside. Both women froze at this. 

“Well, we found the secret passage.” Cordelia smiled nervously. Nancy looked down at the picture. That was a surprisingly sweet way to open a secret lair. She replaced the picture and she and Cordelia headed through the open door. The second they were through, it closed behind them. Cordelia fished out a flashlight she’d filched from Wally’s janitor cart, switching it on. It illuminated a dark passageway, ink dripping from the ceiling and pooling on the floor. 

“Good thing we’re wearing black.” Cordelia tried to joke, but it landed a little flat. They started off down the passageway, jumping at every sound they heard. Normally Nancy wasn’t this jumpy, but with everything she’d seen she had reason to be scared. Eventually, they reached a large room that seemed to be set up like a laboratory. And there, tied to operating tables, were Joshua, Henry, and Sammy. 

“Sammy!” Nancy ran over. “What are you doing here?!”

“What are  _ you _ doing here?!” Sammy demanded. “Neither of you should be here! It’s not safe!” 

“Then why are you here?” Cordelia asked, running over to try and untie the men. Joshua was still out cold and honestly wasn’t looking too great. Cordelia could feel her heart pounding in her chest. 

“What’s wrong with Joshy?” She asked. 

“I don’t know, but we need to get him to a hospital,” Henry said. “The sooner the better.”

“None of you are going anywhere.”

Cordelia and Nancy turned slowly around to find Joey in the doorway to the room, smiling pleasantly. 

“I admit, I didn’t think I’d find more people snooping around.” He said. “But it’s a pleasant surprise nonetheless.”

Cordelia immediately latched herself to Nancy’s side. She had a feeling that this wasn’t going to turn out well for any of them. 


	7. Chapter 7

...

“Dee had the Master Key?” Chris muttered as he and Shawn entered Joey’s office. “You think she coulda told me sooner…”

“She probably swiped it from Wally’s cart.” Shawn pointed out. “He does have copies at all the Miracle Stations, for emergencies, or so he told me…” Chris offered a small smile, he knew the man was extremely worried about his friend’s safety. He patted the older man on the shoulder.

“Don’t worry man, we’re gonna get him ba-”

“What are you two doing in Mr. Joey’s office?” Both men turned to see Boris standing in the doorway.

“Uh...well, we’re looking for Nance and Dee…” Chris said slowly. “Grant said that this was a good place to start…”

“Why?”

“Cause this is the best place to start…” Shawn said sharply and Boris winced at the tone.

“It’s alright, Bo,” Chris said quickly, realizing that Boris’s lower lip was trembling, like a terrified child. “Shawn’s just really nervous about Wally…”

“W-Why?” 

“You don’t need-”

“Well, cause Shawn wants Wally to meet our friend Dorothy!” Chris said quickly. “Right Shawn?” Shawn looked at Chris in a stun shock. “You’re a friend of Dorothy, right?”

“Y-Yes, yes I am…” Boris wondered why Shawn had some tears in the corners of his eyes as Chris nodded at him.

“Can I meet this Dorothy lady?” Boris asked innocently.

“Uh, yeah, of course, but we gotta find Wally and the girls…” Boris nodded firmly before looking around the office and ‘sniffing’ for the two. Shawn and Chris exchanged looks, unsure if this was really happening. Boris suddenly perked up.

“Waitaminute!” Boris exclaimed, turning to the men. “You two are supposed to be enjoying the park! Not snooping around Mr. Drew's office!!” Chris opened his mouth to protest but Boris crossed his arms. “We’re going to the Bumper Cars!” 

“Oh for the love-” Shawn didn’t finish as Boris took both the men’s arms and pretty much dragged the two men out of the office, like a determined toddler.

“Bumper Cars, now!”

.

* * *

 

.

“Joey, leave them alone…” Henry demanded. “You wanted me, and now you have me. Just let them all go.” Joey chuckled.

“Now why would I do that?” Joey laughed. “I have found three more bodies~ Perhaps Alice would enjoy having that scrapped hunter character’s company...or that little cherub toon? And of course there’s the older brother character for Alice….”

“Bodies…?” Nancy said slowly.

“You don’t mean-” Sammy managed out. “Joey you sick bastard! I outta clean your-” Joey rolled his eyes and sighed.

“Yes, yes, whatever. When I explained it to Campbell, she was delighted to become a more stable Alice.” The color drained from Nancy’s face.

“Y-y-You…” Nancy didn’t finished as her eyes rolled back into her head and she fainted, Cordelia catching the woman before she hit the floor. Joey chuckled slightly.

“Well, passing out will aid the transformation, I will admit, but I find it much fascination to watch human turn to toon.” He said as Henry and Sammy struggled to get free, Cordelia struggling to try keep her cool and not pass out. There was a rumbling from the pipes and as Joey looked up, the pipes bursted open, sending gallons of ink. Cordelia barely had time to hold her breath before she was knocked back the force of the inky wave.

“The False One is getting on my nerves.” A childlike voice huffed, confusing Cordelia as she struggled to get to the surface of the ink. “But the Creator hasn’t awoken his power, so that provides many a problem...But I think I like the lot of you, so I will aid you in getting out of the False One’s grip. All I ask is that you hold tight.” Cordelia suddenly felt a force wrap around her and pulled her down quickly.

.

* * *

 

.

“Cordelia!” Cordelia gasped as she opened hers. She wasn’t in Joey’s lab anymore, now in Murray’s office, surprising the poor angel. “Are you ok!?” Cordelia panted as she looked around, seeing Nancy and Joshua blacked out while Henry was rubbing his head as Murray was panting, leaning against the wall.

“W-What? W-What just happened?!” Cordelia exclaimed.

“T-Tele-Summoning…” Murray managed out. “N-Not sure how...Oh boy, I think I’m going to puke…” Murray wobbled and fell to the floor. Faintly the marks on his hands glowed from  underneath his gloves.

“Murray was explaining to me what was going on..” Alice said firmly. “And then he got all still and ink started to surround him and then you all came out of the ink and then the ink disappeared and Murray then yelped about his hands before falling over!” Cordelia paused, remembering the voice that spoke to her before it went black, before looking at Joshua’s pale face as he was unconscious.

“Whatever it was, we got out and now we need to get Joshua to the hospital.” Henry said firmly, slowly getting up. “And once that’s done we’re going to stop Joey.”

“I’d love to know how you plan to do that…” Murray muttered. “I mean Joey’s obviously planning something very big…” Henry shrugged, absently.

“I will figure something out…and I’ll let you guys know as well...” 


End file.
